Now is not time to falter

The League of Women Voters joined 15 other organizations in support of single-payer health care at a press conference at the State House recently.

The League of Women Voters does not jump on bandwagons.

We study an issue and come to member consensus before reaching an advocacy position. The LWVUS used that process before adopting a position in favor of a national single-payer health care system more than 20 years ago.

While continuing to pursue that goal, the League recognized that the individual states could provide models for the nation. In Vermont, the League conducted its own study, adopted in 2005, to reach a position more amenable to state-level implementation. That position is the basis for the League’s strong support for Green Mountain Care (Act 48). It can be seen on our website, at www.lwvofvt.org/files/position_on_social_policy.pdf.

Vermont can lead the way in health care, as it did in slavery and marriage equality. Single payer is not an experiment — it has been used successfully by nations no bigger than Vermont to provide better results at lower cost. We are not rushing into it. The Legislature has been working for health care reform for decades.

We are so close. To our legislators we say, don’t falter now. Bring Act 48 to full implementation.